On “Floods of Triton,” the new collaborative single by Mastodon and Lamb of God, the latter band’s frontman, Randy Blythe, growls, “We’re the last of the before times/Now hear the old gods rise.” When he hears those words read back to him in an interview with Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor, Blythe just laughs knowingly. “Where do you think those words came from, my friend?” he says.
Earlier this summer, Mastodon and Lamb of God teamed up on a tour on which they played their breakthrough albums in their entirety. Both records, Mastodon’s Leviathan and Lamb of God’s Ashes of the Wake, came out in 2004 and set the two bands on a slow trajectory that lifted each of them off the stages of clubs and got them into arenas. The musicians had all known each other for even longer: When Lamb of God were known as Burn the Priest, they recorded in the studio where Dailor — then a member of another band, Today Is the Day, with Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher — was living. They’ve lived their journey together.
“Floods of Triton” came about as a way to acknowledge their decades of friendship. Although they recorded it before the tour, they’re only putting it out now to give the song its own spotlight. And it’s worth it. The guitar riffs recall how Mastodon sounded circa Leviathan, paired with Blythe’s inimitable yowls. “Hear beauty in destruction, the sea beast laid to rest,” goes the chorus, with the latter line referencing songs by each band. It’s heavy, catchy, and emblematic of the old gods’ rise.
Blythe and Dailor spoke with Rolling Stone about the song over Zoom. Dailor was at home, setting up a newly acquired drum kit, while Blythe had just gotten back from surfing in North Carolina, where he was visiting friends. He adds that “Floods of Triton” has stuck with him even though they recorded it months ago. “I was singing the song while I was in the water,” he says.
How did “Floods of Triton” come together?
Brann Dailor: We [in Mastodon] were just talking about the possibility of doing more collaborations because we don’t do it enough and it’s a fun thing to do. We had the tour coming up, so [Lamb of God] were at the forefront of my mind. We had the main two riffs of the song since about 2006, which maybe ironically is when our two bands first legitimately toured together. So we had this song, and we thought Randy’s voice would be perfect on it. I thought it would be a really cool thing to cement our friendship even further.
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Randy Blythe: I’ve known Brann and Bill [Kelliher] longer than Mastodon has existed. For me, making music with people that I like as human beings is one of the coolest parts of my job. As they asked, I was like, “Yeah. Absolutely.”
Who wrote the lyrics?
Blythe: I wrote about 80 percent of the lyrics. I liked the idea of a true collaborative effort, so I asked [Mastodon bassist Troy Sanders] if he had lyrics, and he’s like, “Yeah. I’ve had some stuff I’ve written.” So we went back and forth in the studio.
We didn’t map the song out beforehand. It was once we were in the studio that we discussed where things would go. I believe I wrote, “See beauty in destruction.” And then Troy had the other line, “The sea beast laid to rest,” which of course is references a Lamb of God song and a Mastodon song. So it was very much a collaborative arrangement, even once the base of the song was in place. It was vocally collaborative as well.
Did the verses and choruses fit where you thought they would?
Blythe: It fell into place pretty naturally, because this is not a super complex Mastodon song. It’s not like you guys presented “Hearts Alive” to me and said, “Figure something out.”
Dailor: It’s meat and potatoes.
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Blythe: There’s a structure to it that was pretty easy for me to write within as opposed to some of Mastodon’s music which is much more complex, which to be honest, I was grateful for because I’m kind of a caveman.
Who came up with the “Floods of Triton” title?
Dailor: We had a bunch of different titles we were pulling from the lyrics. When “Floods of Triton” came up, it was like, “OK, that sounds badass.” And I think the song is badass. And so that’s what we look for. We look for badass.
How did the recording go?
Blythe: I went down to Atlanta. I prefer it that way when I work with a band on something this collaborative. I happened to be going down to Atlanta for a trade show already, so I was able to add a day to my trip and actually be in the studio with them. Something happens when you’re in the studio with someone, particularly on something like this. It may look silly to other people, but we have a certain universal language. I believe there’s an understanding there that happens when you’re in person that is absent via email or whatever.
Dailor: It’s way easier. When you’re recording remotely, you can’t look the person in the eye and get a gauge that they really like it or little tweaks that you want to make. So that was way better. And we got to go see Clownvis [Presley] and Puddles Pity Party later that night.
Blythe: We all went. We had some nice potato wedges across the street or something and we got to go see some clowns. It was a great evening.
Did Mark Morton go with you, Randy?
Blythe: No. The solo section is what, 20 seconds long total? There’s no real reason to fly to Atlanta.
Since you recorded this before the tour, why didn’t you put it out before the tour?
Dailor: That was the plan, but you can’t always get what you want, famously stated by Sir What’s His Name.
Blythe: Mix-a-Lot.
Dailor: Yes.
Blythe: The music industry is a complex and at times clunky behemoth. It’s not like we wanted to just put it out on YouTube, like, “Check out our song,” with a picture of me and Brann, like, “Er.” And we’re both under contractual obligations with labels and stuff.
Dailor: Bureaucracy and red tape, litigation [laughs].
Both of your bands recently finished a tour where you played the albums you released in 2004 in their entirety: Mastodon’s Leviathan and Lamb of God’s Ashes of the Wake….
Dailor: And boy, are my arms tired. [Both laugh.]
I was going to ask, Randy, how do you see Ashes of the Wake differently now?
Blythe: I don’t see it any differently. There’s not a lot of surprises on that record for me. On some of our other records, I look at lyrics I wrote and I realized that I was talking to myself, giving myself subconscious warnings. And on Ashes of the Wake, there was none of that. It’s a snapshot of a moment in time where we were. It’s fun to revisit it.
Brann, how do you feel about Leviathan?
Dailor: For me, it’s like it’s the next day with Leviathan. People feel compelled to share with me their stories of what the album means to them and their life with the album over the last 20 years. There were a lot of fathers and sons coming to the shows, or whole families, and they’re like, “This album’s been with our family for this long and it means this to me.” Those stories can only be there because of the steadfast appreciation for the album itself.
You obsess over something when you’re creating it as the four people in the band, and then you put it out there into the world and you don’t know what it’s going to do. It’s wild and free. So it’s so cool to hear all those different viewpoints about what it means to people. It gave me a new appreciation for Leviathan.
Blythe: Also, Brann and I said this several times to each other, it’s like, “Holy shit. Look at this. We sold out the L.A. Forum.” “Holy cow, we’re at Red Rocks. Not bad for a couple of street punk rock kids.”
When we met, he was living on a couch in the studio and we didn’t have enough money for a Motel 6, so we were sleeping on the floor of the studio. And to have both our bands come out on this co-headliner and play an iconic venue like Red Rocks and see it packed all the way up to the top, it’s just like, “Wow.” It’s humbling. And neither of us forget where we come from either. So it makes you really appreciate things.
In 2004, is this how you saw 2024?
Blythe: When [Ashes of the Wake] came out, we were on Ozzfest. It’s our first major-label record, and when we signed with Epic, I thought we were going to put out one record and get dropped. We’re going to take some money à la the Sex Pistols in The Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle. I was like, “I’m going to enjoy this ride while it happens because it’s not going to last long.”
I never thought we’d be doing what we do. My biggest musical dream ever for my band was to maybe play CBGB one day, and we did that several times. Once we did that, I was like, “OK, the improbable has happened. And I can die now. It’s cool. I’m done.” So everything else that has happened is… it’s been slow, steady, upward like that. It’s not like I had some foresight that one day I would go on tour with Metallica, or I would play Red Rocks with Mastodon.
Dailor: I’m in the same boat. I figured the music we play is really weird. I thought it’s heavy and it’s not super popular, especially around that time period. Just still coming out of the Nineties and early into the 2000s, I guess, our band and Lamb of God were being seen at the time as this “New Wave of American Heavy Metal.” But they were just borrowing a catchphrase from the early Eighties, and it didn’t mean that much to me.
I just was like, “If we make it to club level and can stay there, we could make an OK living at this for a little while and see how long we can take it.” But I had no delusions of grandeur that we were going to be, like Randy said, playing Madison Square Garden with Alice in Chains or opening for Metallica in Prague or whatever. It was not even on the table. It wasn’t something that cropped up in my head. And also playing CBGB, that was like, “Holy shit. We made it. And if nothing else happens after this, I’m good.”
But just like Lamb of God, us as well, it’s been slow and steady and we’re just super thankful for every incredible opportunity that comes our way. I try to soak it in, like walking onstage at Red Rocks. This quite possibly could be the last time that this ever happens, so make sure that you look at everything and take it in and try to have your best performance possible.
Blythe: And bring your dad and my mom. We brought our parents out to Red Rocks. That was a big deal.
What’s giving you hope for the future of metal?
Blythe: It’s fine. Kublai Khan just came back from a sold-out tour of Australia. I mean, it’s fine.
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Dailor: I’m not worried about metal one bit. It’s probably one of the healthiest genres of music that exists with some of the most talented human beings on the planet that are playing it.
Like, it can be anything. The fact that you got bands like Knocked Loose that are selling out huge places with that style of music is pretty awesome. And the fact that you have bands like us that now are elder statesmen, I guess, playing places like Red Rocks just gives you all the proof you need that heavy metal is alive and well. And there’s a lot of fans to support it and the younger generation that’s mixing up all the genres and having it evolve even further. It’s alive and well and doing just fine.
